Go To: THW Facebook

Wednesday, 31 August 2016

The next PEF resolved as a Minotaur (Rep 6) with two Beastmen Grunts (Rep 4). The Mintoaur gained the Advantage and charged. Leonidas Jones (Rep 5 Star) fired and took out his enemy.The other Beastman charged and killed the human Grunt.The Minotaur, after an extended seeing Billy Pink using Star Power twice, knocked Billy Out of the Fight.

Leonidas, being a Star, chose to continue the fight. Activating he fired at the Minotaur, causing it to Duck Back.

The last Beastman charged Leonidas, but was cut down - Obviously Dead. The Minotaur recovered from Duck Back and after another extended melee where Leonidas used Star Power twice, was defeated - Out of the Fight.

After passing a Recovery Test, Billy Pink and Leonidas continued through the dungeon. They ran into a Goblin Caster with two Gobbos and after a fight...

The Gobbos were defeated.

Unfortunately, the next PEF was resolved as two Giant Serpents, who succeeded in knocking both Stars Out of the Fight - even after using Star Power.Both chose to use the Cheating Death rule and were whisked away, but had their Reps reduced to 4.

***************************************

When the Minotaur won the melee I used Star Power and after the Serpents beat both Stars I went to the Cheating Death Rule. Although not in either 2d6 rules, it will be in the Crossover! : )

Sunday, 28 August 2016

Here's an AAR of the upcoming free 2d6 Crossover Doc that allows you to play SciFi/Fantasy games using the two free 2d6 games we've provided.

Although sharing similar mechanics, the challenge is to combine them together into one game while keeping the "feel" of each set. I've combined the tables from both into one doc that is used when mixing rules. Here's an AAR showing how this works.

The door opens and Bill Pink, Leonidas Jones (Fast Eddies' twin), and two others pop in front of a waterfall. I roll for a Possible Enemy Foorces (PEF) and score two Goblins.

Time to go to the Battle Board.

While the mechanics of each set are similar, I needed to define some things.1 - DV and AC are used in the same ways.2 - Those armed with modern weapons are considered Missile Class.3 - Orcs, Elves, and other human sized fantasy races are considered Humanoid.4 - Other non-human races are Creatures. Humanoid and Creature come into play on the Action and Will to Fight Tables.5 - Shooting has been lifted from 2d6 Sci-Fi Combat while melee comes from 2d6 Sword & Sorcery. Note that both are modified and blended a bit.6 - The After the Battle Recovery Test is used after each fight, not at the end of the game.

End of the fight.

The Gobbos gained the Advantage and charged. Leonidas was allowed to fire and took out one Gobbo. The other two Gobbos won the melees killing one Grunt and knocking the other Out of the Fight. Billy and Leonidas passed the Will to Fight Test and activated, killing the Gobbos. The OOF Grunt recovered and it was time to move on the Dungeon tiles.

The white player marker meets a PEF.

Three Gobbos and Billy's side won the Advantage. Bang! Bang! Bang! After this we decided to use the "coins" from 2 Hour Dungeon Crawl where you gain coins (Increasing Rep d6) for defeating the enemy.

Wednesday, 17 August 2016

Nuts! Big Battles has landed! Just in case you’re still hungry to know more,
here’s a final Sneak Peek...

A German StuG (Rep 4; Arm 3; APR 4) rolls into view of
a US Sherman (also Rep 4; Arm 3; APR 4). The Sherman wins the In Sight and
fires!

To Shoot, the Sherman rolls 2d6 vs Rep (just like Infantry).

A US Sherman takes aim at a StuG III and opens fire.

It passes 1d6 – enough to hit the StuG in the open! (If the StuG had stayed in Cover, the Sherman would've needed to pass 2d6)

Next, we check for Penetration: our Sherman rolls 1d6, with
Circumstance modifiers (such as +1 for each point of APR above the target’s
Armor Value, or +2 for a hit in the Rear). As the Sherman’s APR is higher than
the StuG’s Armor, it'll need a 6 or better to destroy it.

The shot fails to Penetrate...

The US rolls a 3 and adds a +1 bonus for having a higher APR, for a total result of 4 – the shot didn’t
penetrate the StuG, but it has forced a Clank Test (1d6 vs Rep) to see
how it reacts:

...but forces the Germans to take a Clank Test.

The StuG passes 1d6, so will return fire…

The StuG returns fire...

…passing 2d6, which hits the Sherman! Does it Penetrate?

...and pierces the Sherman's front armor.

The StuG rolls a 5 +1 APR bonus for a total of 6!

The Ronson brews up!

...andthe Sherman erupts in flame!

In the above example, each of the vehicles has a higher APR than its target’s Armor. In
the next example below, our trusty Sherman has stumbled upon a German Panther (Rep 5;
Armor 4; APR 6).

As the Sherman’s APR is not higher than the Panther’s Armor,
it is considered Undergunned: as such, it would need to roll 2d6 on the Penetration Table, requiring a result of 12+ to destroy the enemy tank.

The Sherman has the Panther's Rear in its sights.

The Sherman again rolls 2d6 vs Rep to Hit, passing 1d6 and hitting
the exposed Panther in the Rear (behind the Front Facing), receiving a +2 bonus
to its Penetration roll:

The shot slams home.

The Undergunned Sherman rolls 2d6 for Penetration and counts
its +2 bonus, for a total of 12 – the shot finds a weak point in the Panther's…

The Panther is knocked out!

… and the big cat bursts into flame!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series of Sneak Peeks. We’ve only
scratched the surface – inside NBB you’ll also find Sections on

Vehicle vs Infantry combat

Structures

Terrain

Non-Player tactics and PEFs

Campaign play

Speaking of Campaigns, included in NBB is Campaign ’44, a
series of ten Missions that take the fight all the way to Berlin.

Grab a copy of Nut! Big Battles now from the Two Hour
Wargames store and join the fight!

Monday, 15 August 2016

Vehicles – both the fighting and transport varieties –
played an enormous role in WWII. Here’s
a look at the defining features of Vehicles in NBB.

As with infantry, the Platoon is the basic organisational
structure for vehicles. A Tank Platoon, for example, is made up
of two models (so each model
represents two vehicles). A Tank Company is formed with three
Platoons and an additional vehicle for the Company Commander. The same rules
for Chain of Command that apply to larger Infantry Bodies also apply to Vehicle Bodies, with the exception that the distance allowed for maintaining Cohesion
is 4” rather than 2”.

In comparison to Nuts!FE,
where we define every man in the tank's crew, stats in NBB are more
streamlined. They feature:

a singleRep for the entire vehicle/crew (determined randomly)

an Armor
Value(between 0 and 5)

an Armor
Piercing Rating (APR) for the Main
Gun (between 1 and 7 - if applicable)

two Movement
rates (On-road/Off-road)

Let’s take a look at some examples:

German StuG III Assault Gun

StuG III G: Rep X; Armor
3; APR 4; Move 9/6

American M26 Pershing

M26 Pershing: Rep X; Armor 4; APR 6; Move 9/6

M3 Halftrack Transport

M3 Halftrack: Rep X;
Armor 1W; APR 0; Move 9/6

(Spot the ‘W’
after the Armor value? This indicates that troops being transported in this
open-topped vehicle can also be targeted with Small Arms or Mortar fire. And APR 0? No Main Gun means no Armour Piercing capability).

An important aspect of how vehicles are handled in NBB is
their Front Facing, which is defined
by a line drawn across a vehicle's front edge, like this:

Front Facing on a StuG Assault Gun

If you score a hit on an enemy vehicle from behind its Front Facing, you’ll be more likely to penetrate and destroy it. Front Facing can also restrict what you can
target: A vehicle with a fixed Main Gun,
like the above StuG, can only fire at targets in its Front Facing. A vehicle
with a turret however, such as the Pershing below, can fire in any direction, but is still more vulnerable
when taking a hit from behind its Front Facing.

Front Facing remains the same, but the rotating turret
allows an M26 Pershing to fire in any direction

Next time around, we’ll put all these numbers to work when
we look at Tank Combat.

Sunday, 14 August 2016

Here's another Bat Rep for 2nd Tour. This one features the Ikwen, a great alien race from Loud Ninja Games and available here.

*************************

****************************************

The Ikwen in 5150

Towering mineral vents pierce the crust of Kwiell, the Home
World of the Ikwen, venting strange, nutrient and mineral rich materials into
the atmosphere.These vents are the source
of the strange bio-silicates that make Kwiell desirable for exploitation by
other, more advanced, Races.

Gaea Prime has established a presence on Kwiell in hopes of exploiting
these natural resources. After diplomatic attempts proved unsuccessful to reach
a peaceful resolution, the Ikwen have begun military operations.Unable to fight on even terms, the Ikwen have
resorted to guerrilla warfare.

The close proximity of the Gaea Prime Star Army on Ikwen, now openly
viewed as an occupation force, has caused the Zhuh-Zhuh Confederation to be
concerned. This has resulted in Gaea Prime charges that the Zhuh-Zhuh has been
supplying the Ikwen with weapons and other forms of military support.

Saturday, 13 August 2016

When playing NBB, you can choose whether to play at Platoon,
Company or even Battalion Level. So far, we’ve focused on Platoons, but we can form
them into larger Bodies if we like. NBB is after all a Company Level game (it says
so on the cover), so let’s have a closer look at a Company as an example of a larger Body.

For all nations, an infantry Company is composed of three
Platoons (with their own Support Weapons) and a Company Commander (CC), represented by his own stand of 3-5
figures. In addition, you’ll also get a Company
Support Weapon team of your choice .

Here’s a typical US Infantry Company:

US Infantry Company, ready for action.

We’ve attached the CSW
(in this case a Machine Gun unit) to 1st Platoon (top left) to lend
them a little extra firepower (note that they now have two Support Weapons
attached – the Company Machine Guns and their own Bazooka team).

When building Platoons, we roll to randomly determine the
Platoon Leader’s Rep. When playing at Company
Level, your CC will automatically be Rep
5. This matters, because the entire Company
can activate on the CC’s Rep, provided that the Chain of Command is intact.

What is Chain of
Command? Think of each unit in a Body
as a link in a chain – as long as each unit remains within 2” of another unit and the Leader (in this case the CC) is in Carry On status,
the Chain of Command is intact
and the Body can activate as one.

This doesn’t mean that it must, though; as with Groups in Nuts!FE,
you can break up and reform your Bodies at will (Chain of Command permitting). Want to split off 2nd Platoon
to outflank the enemy whilst 1st and 3rdlay down a base of fire? No
problem – 2nd Platoon will just activate on its own Rep until it
rejoins the Company Body.

Forming a larger Body is a great way to provide strong
leadership to inexperienced troops, to help get a lot of units across the
board quickly, and to allow you to coordinate their actions to greater effect.

Now, if you really
want to go Big with Nuts! Big Battles, you can form three Companies into a Battalion. Same rules apply as above, but you’ll have a Battallion Commander on the board to kick
butts and make it all happen.

Thursday, 11 August 2016

After the defeat of the Star Army, Gaea Prime was forced to send in the Interplanetary
Special Services (ISS) Platoon to stabilize things. Here it is:

Three PEFs were deployed. The 1st resolved right on the ISS, but was nothing. However, future PEFs would be resolved with 3d6 instead of 2d6.

2nd Tour has rules for Bug Flyers, Warriors, and the dangerous Pukers.

Bugs take the Crisis Test and leave the battlefield.

ISS have jump capability of up to 24".

Equal numbers are no joy for the Bugs when fighting ISS.

No Bug Holes appeared so this was a walk in the park. In any case, the ISS has stabilized the campaign. Easy to use campaigns are built around each planet. The attacking Faction has to win an Attack Mission to establish a base. Win an Attack Mission and you win one Area. Each planet has one Area per Investment Level (4). So occupy all 4 Areas, win 4 Attack Missions, and the planet is conquered.

Lose a Defend Mission and lose an Area. Campaign Morale was rolled and neither was affected.The Bugs stay at 5. The ISS remains at 5.